Newcastle Falcons trio Gcobani Bobo, Tane Tu'ipulotu and Filipo Levi will all leave at the club at the end of the season.

Kiwi centre Tu'ipulotu has secured a move to Japan, while former South Africa international centre Bobo and Samoan lock Levi are still to confirm where their futures lie. Newcastle head coach Alan Tait indicated that the moves were part of his desire to take the club, which is still embroiled in a relegation battle with Leeds, in a new direction.

"There's no secrets, they have known for a while," Tait told BBC Newcastle. "I've looked at our type of rugby, where I want to go and brought in players I want, and I'm still looking.

They were all talked about as players we thought about keeping. This is my time as a coach, we've changed our tack a little bit, I've looked at the way I want to play the game and the way I want to structure it."

Bobo and Levi, both 31, joined the club in 2009 while 30-year-old Tu'ipulotu moved to Kingston Park the previous season.